College of Optometrists of Ontario

From a doctor's perspective, terrible organization!

I had a disgusting experience with an optometrist. Dr. Takla at Victoria Terrace Medical Centre. Victoria Park and Lawrence. The receptionist was a lovely person to deal with. I explained to the receptionist the reason for my visit. I was told I would have to undergo a procedure where drops where placed in my eyes to make my pupils dilate, and they could get to check behind my eyes for any abnormalities. I remembered this procedure was done before, it wasn't a pleasant one. Plus they did not educate me on the side effects and how to counteract them. I explained that I cannot do said procedure today, since I drove here to the appointment. She said to speak with the doctor. Dr. Takla calls me into a room, he is in full PPE. He rudely says," I can't do the appointment today if you dont get the drops, it's been a couple years since I seen you. I explained that I drove today, could I come back another day when I can get a drive? Can you do other tests today instead? He then approaches me , trying to look into my eyes and touch my face. I stopped him and asked him to please wash his hands and change his gloves. He became so rude and started washing his gloves hand with sanitizer. That turned me off, I was so disgusted. In a time such as this with COVID-19, who washes their gloves?. I became vocal, said please dont touch me with those gloves. I just walked away. I heard him shouting to his nice receptionist, cancel her appointment. I'm appalled at this eye doctor and his protocols for infection prevention and control. I would not recommend him to anyone.

I had an issue in which an optometrist used the slit lamp for an excessive amount of time which resulted in me having fuzzy vision in my right eye. Told them to implement policy to warn people before the procedure so this does not happen again and they refused. I eventually went to the eye institute and got a proper diagnosis and they did not really even have to use the slit lamp because by describing my symptoms the experts there knew what was wrong with my eye. I hope that if an optometrist detects something is wrong they refer people to the experts instead of shining this bright light that can damage the eye. For the reviewer named "missile" I don't really need to do research because my eye never fully healed and it is still fuzzy but if you want you can search online for any slit lamp manual and it is full of warnings. It is actually very very dangerous. You know if the optician is good by how fast they are. The faster the better as they are trying to minimize exposure of the dangerous light near your eye. This is not surgery but even for that your doctor gives you choices. It is perfectly fine to refuse to have surgery if that is what you desire. I was never given any such choice. I went for a routine eye exam for an updated glasses prescription. I never had any problems before with this procedure and I did not know that it was dangerous. The optometrist detected something but they were not experienced enough to make a diagnosis so they kept looking and by the time they stopped they had injured my eye and they still never made the correct diagnosis. The right thing to do would have been to warn me that something was detected in my eye and if i'm fine with them looking at it longer despite the risks of injury. As I suffer from light sensitivity I would have refused so I could use more time to get proper advice on how to proceed.

I am disappointed. My kid needs glasses, cant see the board in school. Every optometrist I call refuses to do an exam as they are in a dispute with ohip. I support them in their dispute and am happy to pay the full cost for an exam. Still can not get anyone to perform an exam.